Volume 26, Issue 129, November 2022

Repair of right main bronchus tear after blunt chest trauma: A case report

Ayman Fahad Yousef¹, Albaraa Mubarak M Alsaedi^1♦

¹Department of Thoracic Surgery, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Thoracic Surgery, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Tracheobronchial injuries (TBIs) are uncommon life-threatening injuries to the tracheobronchial tree that follow trauma. As TBI manifests with non-specific signs and symptoms, early detection is the main key to proper management and decrease in the high mortality and morbidity rate. Case presentation: A 17-year-old male was the victim of a car roll over road traffic accident. Pan Computed Tomography (CT) was done and showed severe subcutaneous emphysema with pneumomediastinum, bilateral pneumothorax and a proximal right main bronchus wall defect. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy confirmed the diagnosis which was repaired by right thoracotomy. CT scan of the chest was done 6 months after the operation which showed an intact wall of the right main bronchus. Conclusion: TBIs are rarely seen in trauma cases, but they carry high mortality and morbidity rates. This case report highlights the importance of management of TBI is early detection as diagnosis might be challenging.

Keywords: Tracheobronchial injuries, right main bronchus tear, thoracic trauma, subcutaneous emphysema, bilateral pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms453e2516

PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i129/ms453e2516

Published: 08 November 2022